Power Grips Update

I installed the Power Grips Pedals on RL’s 925 and all I can say is that I hated them. Before you send me hate mail, please remember that the I’m riding the 925 as a fixed gear not as a single-speed freewheel. I was able to strap one of my shoes, but for the life of me, I just couldn’t strap the other. I was trying to do all this while riding around my non-traffic congested block, so the thought of fiddling with the pedals while riding with traffic just didn’t set well.

RL and I switched bikes again and when I removed the Power Grips pedals I left them on my truck’s bumper. Yeah, you know what happened next.. bye bye Power Grips. Too bad because I was going to give them a go on my other bikes. So what am I going to install on my Swobo Sanchez? I have a pair of Crank Bros Quattro pedals that are not getting riding time, this means that I’m gonna have to find some Vans shoes that are clipless compatible.

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I just got a pair of PowerGrips for my Cayne Uno. So far they kick the crap out of my old toe clips. I’m getting a pair of one-side platform/one-side SPD pedals next week and I may send them back.

Since my single-speed is an urban bike, I want to wear street shoes. The toe-clips drove me nuts though, because try as I might I had to slow down in order to get my feet in. Furthermore, this often required looking down, which is dangerous in traffic.

The PowerGrips require less effort to get in and hold my feet tighter than the toe clips (which I had to loosen substantially in order to ease entry/exit). In fact, I was easily able to skid the bike by reverse pedaling, which wasn’t even possible with my clips.

To be fair, I haven’t ridden my fixie yet with clipless (although I’m anxious to try). I will say, however, that if you want to ride your bike in street shoes, but still want some ability to backpedal or simply pull while you push, I highly recommend the PowerGrips. They beat toe-clips hands-down. Plus, they’re so cheap that they’re worth the try.

Their one down side is that the bracket that holds the strap sticks out very slightly from the side of your pedal. If you’re already catching a bit of pedal in turns, PowerGrips will likely make this worse.